LOUDSPEAKERS: Does the Totem Mani-2 still rate as one of the ...

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there’s the question of speaker cable and the
connections between the CD/amp. Is my little
system worth the really good stuff? I don’t
want to spend more than I can afford, yet I
want to get the best results and sound I can.
Everybody I talk to has an opinion, they’re
just all different!
Arlan Sanford
SANTA FE, NM
Of course we have an opinion too,
Arlan, and one more opinion on top of
the ones you’ve already heard is possibly
not what you hoped for. Still, if we
explain why we think what we do, you’ll
be in a better position to make sense of
the other advice you’ve received.
Perhaps we can begin with a light
bulb joke that ran in our pages some
years ago:
Q: How many hi-fi gurus does it take to
change a light bulb?
A: None, because there’s no point in
changing the bulb until you’ve installed the
right cables.
Sound familiar?
The truth is that all of these upgrades,
if they’re done right, will make your
system sound better, and if you can
afford them all, then do them all, no
question. If you can’t reasonably do that,
then spend the money in the order that
will give you the biggest audible difference
for each upgrade.
The cheapest upgrade is not even on
your list: changing the duplex outlet in
the wall. Hardware store outlets have
been getting worse and worse with the
years because despite inflation their price
keeps dropping. The connection they
give you is dreadful. The reason hospitals
don’t have those is that a poor connection
can result in arcing and sparks,
and sparks are what you don’t want in a
ward where there’s oxygen flowing. You
also don’t want a dodgy connection on a
piece of medical gear that cost a couple
of million bucks. We suggest you settle
for nothing less.
With that done, let’s have a look at
what a better power cable can do for you.
The upscale connectors on a good cord
will, like the better outlet, give you a
tighter connection with less noise generated
by the connection itself, and with
less loss of voltage too. What’s more,
a power cable that’s any good will be
shielded. That prevents it from picking